Russia to close Goethe-Institut centres as Germany tensions escalate

Moscow to shut Goethe-Institut centres after Germany announces the closure of two Russian institutions.

Police investigators work on the tarmac with a robot capable of defusing explosives, near a Ukrainian Antonov Airlines cargo plane, at Leipzig/Halle airport on August 5, 2026 [File: Jens Schlueter/Getty Images]

Russia says it will close Germany’s Goethe-Institut cultural centres, Russian state media has reported, after Germany blamed Moscow for a drone incident at the Leipzig/Halle airport last month and said it would shutter a Russian cultural centre in Berlin and a consulate in Bonn.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that Russia would close the centres in the cities of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, following Germany’s decision to halt the operation of a Russian cultural centre in Berlin.

list 1 of 4 Germany accuses Russia of failed drone attack on Leipzig airport in August

list 2 of 4 Germany says Russia preparing ‘hybrid’ attacks over Ukraine support

list 3 of 4 EU eyes more Russia sanctions after failed drone attack in Germany

list 4 of 4 Putin and Zelenskyy issue threats as strikes rock Ukraine, Russia

“They [Germany] deliberately took this step – they could not have failed to understand – which means the end of their cultural presence in Russia,” Lavrov said, according to state news agency TASS.

The Goethe-Institut cultural centres had stayed open “despite all the Ukrainian complications in our relations with the West,” he added.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Germany was displaying an inconsistent and absurd position by choosing to shutter the Russian consulate in Bonn.

Last month’s incident involving an explosive-laden drone that started the chain of events has heightened fears over a sabotage campaign that the European Union and NATO say is a Russian attempt to destabilise Ukraine’s allies.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Tuesday accused Russia of being behind the “hybrid attack”. The drone at Leipzig-Halle airport was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane on the evening of August 4 and defused.

On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin accused Germany of planting evidence in order to blame Moscow for the drone incident.

“It is clear that it has all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Ireland.

“The question is, what do we do about this?”

Kallas said the EU had summoned the Russian envoy, and member states were doing the same.

“We will not let an act of such gravity go unpunished,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, adding he had called in Russia’s envoy in Paris.

Kallas said that EU foreign ministers agreed to keep working on a proposal to impose sanctions on 1,600 individuals and entities linked to Russia’s military industry in the hope of adopting them next month.

“Seeing these hybrid attacks across Europe, I think these are also wake-up calls for the countries who have not been so strong … on this,” she said.

“If we want to end this war, we all have to focus our efforts. Take it to a new level.”

Russia’s first Goethe-Institut opened in Moscow in 1992, soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Following a diplomatic spat with Britain, Russia ordered the closure of its British Council in 2018.

On Wednesday, Lavrov’s deputy, Alexander Grushko, said Russia would retaliate “very soon” for the closure of the Bonn consulate.

在德国宣布关闭两所俄罗斯歌德学院后，莫斯科也将关闭歌德学院中心。

2026年8月5日，在莱比锡/哈勒机场，警方调查人员在停机坪上，使用一台能够拆除爆炸物的机器人，在一架乌克兰安东诺夫航空公司的货机附近进行作业。[图片：Jens Schlueter/Getty Images]

据俄罗斯国家媒体报道，俄罗斯表示将关闭德国的歌德学院文化中心。此前，德国指责莫斯科应对上个月莱比锡/哈勒机场发生的无人机事件负责，并表示将关闭位于柏林的俄罗斯文化中心和位于波恩的俄罗斯领事馆。

俄罗斯外交部长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫周三表示，继德国决定停止运营位于柏林的俄罗斯文化中心后，俄罗斯也将关闭位于莫斯科、圣彼得堡和叶卡捷琳堡的文化中心。

列表 1/4：德国指责俄罗斯在 8 月份对莱比锡机场发动无人机袭击未遂

德国称俄罗斯正准备就乌克兰支持问题发动“混合”袭击（共4条，此为第2条）

欧盟在德国无人机袭击失败后考虑对俄罗斯实施更多制裁（共四项制裁措施，第三项）

普京和泽连斯基发出威胁，袭击震动乌克兰和俄罗斯（共4条，此为第4条）

据俄罗斯塔斯社报道，拉夫罗夫表示：“他们（德国）是故意采取这一步骤的——他们不可能不明白——这意味着他们在俄罗斯的文化存在结束了。”

他补充说，尽管乌克兰问题使我们与西方的关系变得复杂，但歌德学院文化中心仍然保持开放。

克里姆林宫周四表示，德国选择关闭俄罗斯驻波恩领事馆，这表明其立场前后矛盾且荒谬。

上个月发生的无人机爆炸事件引发了一系列连锁反应，加剧了人们对破坏活动的担忧。欧盟和北约称，这是俄罗斯企图破坏乌克兰盟友稳定的行动。

德国联邦内政部长亚历山大·多布林特周二指责俄罗斯是此次“混合攻击”的幕后黑手。8月4日晚，一架无人机在莱比锡-哈勒机场附近一架乌克兰货机旁被发现并被拆除。

周二，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京指责德国栽赃陷害，企图将无人机事件的责任推卸给莫斯科。

欧盟外交政策负责人卡娅·卡拉斯在爱尔兰举行的欧盟外长会议上表示：“很明显，这具备国家支持的恐怖主义的所有特征。”

“问题是，我们该如何应对这种情况？”

卡拉斯表示，欧盟已经召见了俄罗斯特使，成员国也在采取同样的行动。

法国外交部长让-诺埃尔·巴罗表示：“我们绝不会放过如此严重的罪行。”他还补充说，他已召见了俄罗斯驻巴黎大使。

卡拉斯表示，欧盟外交部长们同意继续推进一项提案，该提案旨在对与俄罗斯军工产业有关的 1600 名个人和实体实施制裁，希望下个月能够通过该提案。

“看到欧洲各地发生的这些混合攻击，我认为这对那些在这方面不够强硬的国家来说也是一个警钟，”她说。

“如果我们想结束这场战争，我们都必须集中精力，将努力提升到一个新的水平。”

俄罗斯第一所歌德学院于1992年在莫斯科成立，当时苏联刚刚解体。在与英国发生外交争端后，俄罗斯于2018年下令关闭了英国文化协会。

周三，拉夫罗夫的副手亚历山大·格鲁什科表示，俄罗斯将“很快”对波恩领事馆关闭一事进行报复。